Metallic railway-tie.



PATENTED MAY 12, 1903.

s'. sEITz. METALLIC` RAILWAY Tm APPLICATION FILED DEO. 31, 1902*.

' Tus Nunms mnzns om vauro-Limo.. WASHINGTUN n c Iis Patented May 12, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. SEITZ, OF TIFFIN, OHIO.

METALLIC n AlLwAY-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters-Patent N o. 728,026, dated May 12, 1903.

Application filed December 3l, 1902. Serial No. 137,309. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. Snrrz, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tiffin, in the county of Seneca and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful MetallicRailway-Tie, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to metallic railwayties.

The objects of the invention are to adapt the tie for use in connection with a metallic,

cement, stone, or earth foundation and with bridge structures; to eect secure assemblage of the rails with the tie in such manner that they will be prevented ,from spreading even if broken at the tie; effectually to brace the tie against transverse yield or collapse and to reinforce the rail at the seats to adapt the tie for use in connection with rails of different sizes; to provide for positive adjustment of the rails to different gages; Vto facilitate the assemblage of the parts; positively to hold the clamping means and 4rail from vertical movement independently of the assemblingbolts; to adapt the tie to receive ballast, also for anchoring to the road-bed, and generally to provide a novel, durable, and thoroughlyefficient form of tie.

With theabove and other Vobjects in view, as will appearas thenature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction and combination of parts of a metallic railway-tie, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming 'al part of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate correspond- .ing parts,there are illustrated two formsof verse section, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail view of one of Fig. 5 is a view in side eley the rail-clamps.

vation of a slightly-modified form of clamp. Fig. 6 is a modification showing another manner of securing the rail-clamps to the tie.

Fig. 7 is a detailed fragmentary view illustrating the slots formed in the bottom of the tie.

Referring to the drawings, ldesignates generally the tie, which by preference is stamped from a sheet of iron or steelandconstitutes a trough-like structure adapted to receive ballast such as is used in ballasting the roadbed, or otherwise, the tie in eiect forming a part of the road-bed. The bottom of the tie is provided with a longitudinal slot 2, adapted to permit drainage of water therefrom and also to form a means of interlocking with the road-bed when the same is of cement, thereby to effect secure anchorage of the tie in position. The sides 3 at points midway of the length of the tie are cut away on oppositely-disposed angles, 1as shown at 4E, this for the purpose of lightness; but, if preferred, the sides may be of the same height throughout, as shown in Fig. 5.

y 4Adjacent to each end ofy the tie there are provided lateral inwardly-projecting seats 5,

which are formed by stamping out a portion of the metal of the sides, these seats presentingstrong bearing-surfaces for the bases of the rails and operating, further, as stops to Vrail-base, and the opposing ends 7 of the abutments 8, formed by the .removal of the metal from the seats, constitute stops against which the webs of the rail may bear, if desired, thus in a positive manner preventing spreading, and inthe event of a rail becoming fractured 0r broken at the seat the stops will operate to prevent any lateral movement of the separated rail-sections. This feature is of high commercial importance and one that will be found of great value, as it will, positively eliminate an element of danger necessarily present with the ordinary wooden tie commonly employed. The recesses are purposely made considerably longer than the width of the rail-base in order to adapt or accommodate it to rails of dierent sizes and roo also to permit an extended range of lateral adjustment. to the tie for use in connection with roads of different gages. By thus constructing the rail-receiving recesses any rail, from the heaviest to the lightest, may be employed in connection with the tie and be positively secured therein.

The means for locking the rails within the rail-receiving recesses and against the seats comprises a pair of clam ps, two for each rail. Each ot' these clamps is a counterpart of the other, and a description of one will therefore serve for all. The clamp is struck up from suitable sheet metal and comprises a iiat bottom 9 and two inverted approximately U- shaped flanges 10, the crests of which are formed with lateral channels 10, which are adapted to engage lateral danges 11 on each side of the rail-receiving recesses, the walls of the anges being adapted to embrace the sides of the tie, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. By the provision of the lateral channels 10 and the lateral flanges 11 when theclamp is positioned upon the tie it will be positively held against lifting in the event that its assembling-bolts are loose, so that positive positioning of the rail is thereby elected. The forward portion of the bottom of the clamp is upwardly inclined at 11a on an angle corresponding to that of the upper side of the rail-base, and the forward ends of the under sides ot' the iianges are beveled at an angle corresponding to the rail-base-engaging portion 11 of the clamp, as shown at 12.

As above stated, it is one of the objects of the invention to adapt the rail for lateral adjustment in the tie, thus to adaptitfor tracks of different gages, and this is accomplished by providing the lianges 10 with longitudinally-disposed slots 13' to receive bolts 14 that pass through openings 15 in the abutments. It will be seen by this arrangement that by loosening the nuts on the said bolts the clamps may be moved laterally upon the sides of the tie to effect any adjustment required, and in case it be desired to replace a damaged tie with a new one or to supply a new section of rail this may readily be effected by loosening the bolts and moving the clamps until opposing ends aline with the ends 7 of the stops, whereupon the rail may be lifted from the tie, as the distance between the opposing ends of the abntments is made of a width greater than the width of the largest rail used. To adapt the clamp for use in connection with a fish-plate, the baseengaging portion thereof will be provided with a recess 16 to straddle the bolt head or nut, as the case may be.

Where the tie is used on a bridge, provision has to be made by whichA to permit of its being secured in position on the bridge-timbers, and this is effected by providing the bottom 9 of the clamp with a longitudinal slot 17, through which passes a bolt 1S, which will -be of a length to pass through the bridgetimbers to effect clamping of the tie in position thereon. These bolts 18 are used under all conditions; but where the tie rests upon the ordinary road-bed they will only be of a length to project a sufficient distance above' the bottom of the clamp to permit the nut to be screwed thereon. The slots 19 in the bottom of the tie, through which the said bolts pass, are provided with an intermediate enlarged portion 20, which is of a size to permit passage therethrough of the head of the bolt, so that when the bolt is to be positioned the head thereof is passed through the enlarged portion 2O of the slot, and the bolt is then moved laterally to bring the head beneath the narrow portion of the slot, the reverse of this operation being observed when the bolt is to be removed.

The bolts 18 are, by preference, disposed at downward-converging angles to the web of the rail, this disposition of the bolts causing their nuts to operate to force the clamps against the web, and thus additionally clamp the rail in position.

Instead of employing two bolts 1S, as illustrated in Fig. 2, I may employ simply a single continuous bolt or tie-rod 21, such as is shown in Fig. 6. In this form the rod has its ends passed through the slots 17 in the clamps at opposite sides of the rail and secured by suitable nuts. The body of the rod, which is curved, as shown, extends through suitable openings in the base of the tie. By this construction the parts are held securely together, and the number of parts is reduced.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the tie of this invention provides for every emergency that will arise in the construction of a railroad-track--such as the anchoring of the tie in position, its weighting with ballast, its adaptation to receive rails of any sizes, the provision of means for securely clamping the rails in position and for permitting adjustment of the rails to suit the gage of the track, and the positive holding of the clamps against any tendency to lift, even though their assembling-bolts be loose. Moreover, by making the tie of stamped or dropforged metal it will with a minimum of material possess the maximum of strength, and by having the seats integral with the tie danger of loss is eliminated and a more rigid structure is provided.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. `A hollow railway-tie provided with laterally-projecting rail-base seats, and having its side members provided with lateral flanges adjacent to the seats, in combination with longitudinally-adjustable rail-clamps provided with lateral channels to inclose the anges.

2. A hollow railway-tie provided with integral laterally-projecting railway-seats and rail-receiving recesses formed by the seats and having their under faces disposed at oppositely-inclined angles, lateral flanges carried by the side members of the tie, and railclamps mounted upon the said sides and hav- IOO IIO

ing lateral channels to inclose the said iianges and the under faces of their opposed ends in fecting longitudinal adjustment of the said clamps.

3. A hollow railway-tie having its bottom portion provided with bolt-receiving slots formed with intermediately-enlarged portions and having its side members provided with lateral flanges, in combination with railclamps provided with lateral channels to inclose the said anges and provided in their bottoms with slots to register with those of the tie.

4. A railway-tie having a rail-receiving recess of greater length than the width of the rail-base, and having the side members provided with lateral flanges, `in combination with longitudinally-adj ustable rail-clamps to embrace the said members and provided with lateral channels to inclose the said flanges.

5. A railway-tie comprisinga hollow structure provided intermediate of its ends with a drain-opening and having laterally-projecting rail-base seats disposed near each end and formed-by stamping-out sections of the metal of the tie, -the upper edges of the sides of the tie adjacent lto the'seats being flanged outward, and rail-clamps adj ustably mounted on the side members and having lateral channels to inelose the flanges.

6. A railway-tie having its bottom portion provided with elongated bolt-receiving openings, and with rail-seats, the upper edges of the side members of the tie being flanged outward,in combination with rail-base clamps embracing the sides of thete and provided with lateraliianges to. inclose the channels, and having their bottoms provided with elongated bolt-receiving openings, and clampingbolts passing through the clamps and the'tie and 'disposed at converging angles with rela tion to each other.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as Ymy own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses. I CHARLES S. SEITZ.

Witnesses:

WILLIS BACON, W. J. GRIFFITH.' 

